UX Fika Podcast #2: Jonty Sharples on Majority World Mega Cities, Building Teams, and Working From a Wooden Box
In this episode of the UX Fika podcast, I catch up with Jonty Sharples – product, design, and business leader, and – at the time of our 2021 conversation – CXO at Where Is My Transport. These days, Jonty’s a consulting CPO working from a wooden cube at the bottom of his garden. But back then, he was fresh off several years of travel to emerging megacities, trying to design better services for people earning under $20 a day.
We talk about his journey from Albion to founding the purpose-led design studio Hactar, and how building products for social good—and wrestling with the realities of pro bono work shaped the kind of problems he wants to solve today.
Jonty shares what it was like shifting from in-person ethnographic research to remote workshops spanning four time zones, how informal transport works in cities like Mexico City and Dar es Salaam, and why field work reveals the kind of insights no spreadsheet ever can.
It’s also a conversation about building the kind of career—and team—you actually want, knowing when to leave, and creating space (literal and emotional) to figure out what’s next.
Plus:
☕️ Why a scone, a cup of tea, and a bit of quiet might just be the perfect fika.
🌟 Why you should always hire people smarter than yourself.
What we cover:
00:00 Journey to Hacktar and Social Change
00:33 Social Media and Digital Presence
01:41 Introduction and How We Met
05:41 On Running Away From Public Speaking And Social Media
11:52 Change Of Plans
14:07 Looking Back At The Start Of The Pandemic
17:15 Cancelled Travel And Working From A Wooden Cube
18:57 Ethnographic Research in Majority World Mega Cities
25:57 Informal Transport
28:43 The Evolution of Remote Work
32:04 Downside Of Remote Work
35:23 Navigating Social Interactions Post-Pandemic
38:42 Adapting to New Learning Environments
39:28 Kids using Teams
41:35 Reflections on Career Transitions And Starting Hactar
49:00 The Impact of Purpose-Driven Work
51:36 Pro Bono Work Sucks And Everyone Is To Blame
56:42 Leaving Hactar
01:00:23 Embracing New Challenges in Leadership
01:04:12 Home Away From Home
01:08:50 Life Lessons and Future Aspirations
01:14:11 New Chapter
Where you’ll find Jonty:
Where you’ll find Anna & UX Fika:
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#innovation, #business, #technology, #Hactar, #socialchange, #informaltransport #innovation #productdesign #uxfika #uxfikapodcast #jontysharples